Does rapid maxillary expansion improve nasal airway obstruction? A computer fluid dynamics study in patients with nasal mucosa hypertrophy and obstructive adenoids.

Introduction: Rapid maxillary expansion (RME) expands the maxillary dentition laterally and improves nasal airway obstruction. However, the incidence of nasal airway obstruction improvement after RME is approximately 60%. This study aimed to clarify the beneficial effects of RME on nasal airway obstruction in specific pathologic nasal airway diseases (nasal mucosa hypertrophy and obstructive adenoids) using computer fluid dynamics.

A three-dimensional cephalometric analysis of Japanese adults and its usefulness in orthognathic surgery: A retrospective study.

This study aimed to establish a three-dimensional (3D) cephalometric analysis of craniofacial morphology and discuss its theoretical usefulness in orthognathic patients. Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of Japanese subjects with skeletal Class I malocclusion before treatment were selected from among 1000 patients so that samples matched a historic 2D cephalometric cohort with normal occlusion using propensity score matching. In each CBCT image, 67 3D measurements were calculated based on manually identified landmarks.